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Aquatic Invasions (2012) Volume 7, Issue 1: 81–89
doi: 10.3391/ai.2012.7.1.009 (Open Access)
© 2012 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2012 REABIC
Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species (29 August-2 September 2010, San Diego, USA)
81
Research Article
North American range extension of the invasive Asian clam in a St. Lawrence
River power station thermal plume
M. Anouk Simard1*, Annie Paquet1, Charles Jutras2,3, Yves Robitaille3, Pierre U. Blier2,
Réhaume Courtois1 and André L. Martel4
1 Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec, Direction de l’expertise sur la faune et ses habitats, Service de
la biodiversité et ders maladies de la faune, 880 chemin Ste-Foy, 2e étage, Québec (Québec), G1S 4X4 Canada
2 Université du Québec à Rimouski, 300, allée des Ursulines, Rimouski (Québec), G5L 3A1 Canada
3 Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec, Direction générale région Mauricie, 100 rue Laviolette, bureau
207, Trois-Rivières (Québec), G9A 5S9 Canada
4 Canadian Museum of Nature, Malacology section, P.O. Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa (Ontario), K1P 6P4 Canada
E-mail: anouk.simard@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca (MAS), annie.paquet@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca (AP), charles.jutras@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca (CJ),
yves.robitaille@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca (YR), pierre_blier@uqar.ca (PUB), réhaume.courtois@mrnf.gouv.qc.cal (RC),
amartel@mus-nature.ca (ALM)
*Corresponding author
Received: 17 December 2010 / Accepted: 11 October 2011 / Published online: 1 December 2011
Editor’s note:
This special issue of Aquatic Invasions includes papers from the 17th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species held
in San Diego, California, USA, on August 29 to September 2, 2010. This conference has provided a venue for the exchange of
information on various aspects of aquatic invasive species since its inception in 1990. The conference continues to provide an
opportunity for dialog between academia, industry and environmental regulators within North America and from abroad.
Abstract
Similar to the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) and the quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis), the Asian clam (Corbicula
fluminea) is an invasive bivalve that has colonized many waterbodies in the United States and Europe. So far, low water temperature
and ice formation during winter appear to have limited its northern distribution, especially in Eastern North America. This paper
documents the recent discovery of a Corbicula fluminea population in the St. Lawrence River, in the thermal plume produced by the
Gentilly-2 nuclear power plant (Bécancour, Québec, Canada). Based on a benthic samples obtained during November 2009 from 21
sites, both upstream and downstream of the power plant outlet, average density (± standard error) of this non-indigenous species was
368 ± 176 living individuals/m². Additional samples collected in 2010 showed an increase in density to 3,380 ± 1,315 living
individuals/m² downstream the power station, and established the range limit at 4 km downstream. The species was present only
downstream of the power plant and its distribution appears to be associated with the warm water plume. The influence of the thermal
plume at 4 km from the power station was however fairly limited. The size of individuals varied from < 1 mm to 24 mm in length.
These results confirm the establishment of the species in the St. Lawrence River, thereby extending the northern boundary of its
distribution in North America.
Key words: Corbicula, invasive species, bivalves, St. Lawrence River, power plant, warm water plume
Introduction
The introduction of non-native invasive species
is the second-largest threat to the maintenance of
biodiversity throughout the world (Convention
on Biological Diversity 1992). Invasive species
can also induce serious economic impacts, i.e.,
up to 5% of gross income worldwide (Pimentel
et al. 2007). In recent years, following trade
globalization and increases in the volume of
international maritime traffic (Nentwig 2007),
several invasive aquatic species have made their
way into waterways of Canada and Québec,
through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence basin
(Mills et al. 1993). In this basin, more than 87
species belonging to different taxonomic groups
have been introduced, including the round goby
(Neogobius melanostomus Pallas, 1811), the
bloody red shrimp (Hemimysis anomala G.O.
Sars, 1907), and the European tench (Tinca tinca
L., 1758; DeLafontaine and Costan 2002).
Presently, invasive aquatic species threaten more
than half of the Canadian fish identified by the
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife
M.A. Simard et al.
82
in Canada (Dextrase and Mandrak 2006).
Moreover, species of indigenous freshwater
mussels have drastically declined in the last two
decades following the arrival of the zebra mussel
(Dreissena polymorpha Pallas, 1771) and the
quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis Andrusov,
1897; Ricciardi et al. 1998) in the late 1980s,
both introduced via ballast water discharge
(Hebert et al. 1989, May and Marsden 1992,
Carlton 2008).
Some introduced species represent a greater
risk of invasion than others (Williamson 1996).
This includes species that have high reproductive
and dispersion rates, those with high phenotypic
plasticity that are tolerant to a wide range of
environmental conditions, or "engineer" species
that have the capacity to alter physical and
chemical characteristics of ecosystems
(Karatayev et al. 2009; Sakai et al. 2001).
Because aquatic mollusks commonly possess
several of the above characteristics, this group is
recognized as being over-represented as invasive
aquatic species (Karatayev et al. 2009; Sousa et
al. 2009). The Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea,
Müller 1774 (Order: Verenoida, Family:
Corbiculidae), is a good example of an invasive
mollusk: present in four continents, it is
considered to be among the most invasive
species in the world (McMahon 1983). Its
success as an invader is due in part to its high
level of energy efficiency, high growth rate,
early maturity, high fecundity and dispersal
potential (McMahon 1983). During the
reproductive period, an adult of this self-
fertilizing hermaphroditic bivalve can produce
from 97 to 570 juveniles per day (MacMahon
and Bogan 2001). These juveniles can be
passively transported by water currents or
attached to a dispersing agent, facilitating
invasion downstream in a drainage basin or in
remote areas (MacMahon and Bogan 2001).
Although C. fluminea is sensitive to certain
environmental stressors, such as low water
temperatures or hypoxia, its high reproductive
potential allows this bivalve to be extremely
resilient, and its populations recover quickly
from episodes of catastrophic mortality
(MacMahon and Bogan 2001; Werner and
Rothhaupt 2008; Vohmann et al. 2010). Invasive
Asian clams can cause damage to ecosystems
and modify invaded habitats to the point where
indigenous species can no longer survive
(Gonzalez et al. 2008; Sousa et al. 2009).
Notably, in situation of high population density,
filter feeding by this bivalve increases water
clarity by removing large amounts of planktonic
food, fostering the spread of macrophyte algae
(Sousa et al. 2009).
During its invasion history, the range of the
Asian clam has spread rapidly. The first living
population in North America was discovered in
1938 in the Columbia River basin, Washington,
U.S., but empty shells were reported on
Vancouver Island back to 1924 (Counts 1981;
McMahon 1983). By 1953, the species was
regarded as a nuisance in North America, and by
1970 it had colonized nearly 2,000 linear km of
watercourses in the United States (Sinclair and
Isom, 1961; McMahon 1983). On a worldwide
scale, C. fluminea spread to Western Europe
(Portugal, France and Germany in early 1980,
England in 1998; Mouthon 1981; Aldridge and
Müller 2001), South America (Darrigran 2004),
and more recently in Eastern European countries
(Beran 2006; Bodis 2007). Because of limited
survival of Asian clam exposed at water
temperature below 2°C for extend period of time
(Mattice and Dye 1976), low water temperatures
and winter ice formation have historically
limited the distribution and impacts of
C. fluminea in northern latitudes. Nevertheless,
recent reports have extended the distribution
range of the species further north, namely
Vancouver Island, Canada, in 2008 (Kirkendale
and Clare 2008), New York State in 2008
(Marsden and Hauser 2009), and Ireland in 2010
(Caffrey et al. 2011).
Our interest in the Asian clam, and more
specifically its capacity to invade northern
temperate regions, originates from the recent
discovery of the species in the freshwater portion
of the St. Lawrence River, in the thermal plume
of a power-generating station near Bécancour,
Québec, Canada. Earlier reports on the species in
the Great Lakes basin suggested that Asian clam
populations at the limit of their northern range
were either associated with warm water outflows
from thermal/nuclear power station or simple
temporary summer populations unable to survive
through winters (Clarke 1981; French and
Schloesser 1991). This paper documents the first
population of C. fluminea in the St. Lawrence
River, near the Gentilly-2 power plant of Hydro-
Québec, and aims at further understanding the
biological and ecological significance of this
new discovery in Eastern Canada, in the light of
its northern location and climate. Aquatic
invasions are an important environmental risk
that must be seriously considered, given the very
high rate of native species extinction in
Range extension of the invasive Asian clam
83
freshwater ecosystems (Ricciardi and Rasmussen
1999).
Methods
The Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station
(46°39'56"N, 72°35'64"W) is located on the
south shore of the St. Lawrence River,
downstream of the port of Bécancour and Trois-
Rivières city, Québec, Canada (Figure 1).
Normal water temperatures at this location are
approximately 22.5°C in July, 2.5°C in
November and 3.5°C in April (Hydro-Québec
2006). However, water temperatures drop below
1°C during the winter months (St. Lawrence
Observatory, 2010). The plume of discharged
water from the power plant creates a
microclimate that modifies physical characte-
ristics of the fluvial ecosystem downstream of
the station. Gentilly-2 discharges approximately
25 m3/sec of warm water into the river, and the
thermal plume is detected up to 5.6 km
downstream of the discharge channel when the
reactor is operating at full power. The average
deviation in temperature between the generating
station headrace and discharge channel is 11.1°C
(Hydro-Québec 2006). Downstream of the
discharge channel, the thermal influence declines
from 8°C to 1°C as the distance from the
generating station increases to 3 to 4 km (Figure
1; Hydro-Québec 2006). The extent of the zone
of thermal influence varies according to the tide
and the month of year, being larger at high tide
than low tide, and larger in July than in
November or April (Hydro-Québec 2006). At the
municipality of Bécancour, the average and
spring tidal ranges are 0.6 m and 0.8 m,
respectively. Maximum current speed at
Bécancour is 7.4 km/h (Fisheries and Oceans
Canada 2010).
The first evidence of a C. fluminea population
in the Bécancour region was provided by the
discovery of two empty shells (including one
complete specimen, 16 mm in length), found on
20 July 2009, near the Gentilly-2 warm water
discharge channel (Figure 2a, b). On 12 and 13
November 2009, benthos was sampled at 21
different sites (Figure 1) using a Petersen-type
grab sample (305 305 mm) at a depth of
roughly 2.4 ± 0.2 m (standard error). The
sampled sites were scattered upstream and
downstream of the generating station to see
whether living specimens were present on either
side of the discharge channel. All the sample sites
downstream of the generating station (sites 1 to 10)
were located in or near the Gentilly-2 thermal
influence zone (Figure 1). Temperatures were
measured at 20–25 cm below the surface at all the
sites. Sediment samples were sorted in the
laboratory using a 0.053 mm sieve. The samples
were preserved in ethanol, and were then sorted
using a stereomicroscope in the laboratory, to
identify visible living and dead specimens.
Sampling was also conducted during August
2010; although these samples have not all been
sorted and analyzed, preliminary information for
a second year of sampling is available. In 2010,
we sampled 56 sites along the thermal plume and
further downstream, i.e., up to 15 km
downstream the power station. We used a
0.5 mm sieve in the thermal plume (16 sites) and
a 1mm sieve further down in the thermal plume
(40 sites). Finally, in late October 2010, 16
thermographs were dropped at the bottom of the
riverbed at different locations in and outside the
thermal plume of the power station. Six
thermographs were retrieved in summer 2011,
thus permitting to report the water temperature at
exact locations where C. fluminea was present.
Results
Substratum composition at the sampled sites was
mostly a mixture of silt, clay, sand, gravel and
organic matter. In November 2009, the average
water temperature during sampling ranged from
6.3°C to 6.9°C outside the thermal plume from
the power station. The temperature at the
discharge canal outlet at site 1 was 18.3°C, but
gradually decreased further down in the thermal
plume (e.g. site 5 = 15.5°C, site 6 = 13°C and
site 8 = 10°C, 1.5 km downstream), and was still
at 8°C in sites 9 and 10 (about 2 km downstream,
Table 1). No living C. fluminea specimens were
found in the samples collected from sites 11 to
21, upstream from the power station outlet,
although one empty shell was found at site 20.
On the other hand, a living population of
C. fluminea was found downstream of the power
station (Table 1). For sites located downstream
of the discharge channel (sites 1 to 10), an ave-
rage of 34 ± 16 (standard error) live individuals
were harvested in each grab, for an estimated
density of 368 ± 176 individuals/m2 in 2009.
More specimens were found at the discharge
channel outlet (sites 1, 4 and 5) at an average
density of 1058 ± 466 individuals/m². In other sites,
the average density was 72 ± 12 individuals/m2. Live
specimens were observed at the furthest site,
2.25 km downstream the power station (site 10).
M.A. Simard et al.
84
Figure 1. Location of sampling sites in the vicinity of the warm water plume from the Gentilly-2 nuclear power station (see enlargement)
and in the St. Lawrence River, near Bécancour, Québec, Canada. The star identifies the site where C. fluminea was first observed in July
2009 (see specimen, Figure 2). The different thermal zones created by hot water discharged by the power station are hatched in grey, and are
based on data obtained from Hydro-Québec (2006). The boundaries of the hot water plume vary with tidal conditions and month; this figure
shows the period where the plume appears to be at its narrowest (Hydro-Québec 2006).
Figure 2. First specimen of the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea,
harvested from the discharge channel of the Gentilly-2 power
station located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in
Bécancour (Québec, Canada; July 2009). The specimen
measures 16 mm in length. A - Dorsal view of the shell; B -
Lateral view. Photograph by André Martel.
Figure 3. Some Corbicula fluminea specimens harvested from a
sampling station near the Gentilly-2 power station located on the
south shore of the St. Lawrence River (Bécancour, Québec,
Canada; November 2009). Photograph by Annie Paquet.
Range extension of the invasive Asian clam
85
Table 1. Corbicula fluminea densities at each of the 21 stations
sampled in the vicinity of the warm water plume from the
Gentilly-2 nuclear power station in the St. Lawrence River, near
Bécancour, Québec, Canada (Figure 1). Sites 1 to 10 are in the
thermal plume downstream the nuclear power station and sites 11
to 21 are upstream. Latitude and longitude of each station is
provided (North American Datum 1983). N - number of live
individuals per m2.
Station ID Latitude, N Longitude, W N
1 46.3953 -72.34978 1593
2 46.39568 -72.34946 108
3 46.39613 -72.34957 54
4 46.39848 -72.34767 398
5 46.40117 -72.34525 1184
6 46.40165 -72.34258 54
7 46.40297 -72.33861 54
8 46.40262 -72.33804 108
9 46.40446 -72.33146 32
10 46.40387 -72.32908 97
11 46.39648 -72.38953 0
12 46.39983 -72.38594 0
13 46.39922 -72.38346 0
14 46.40377 -72.37088 0
15 46.40432 -72.37131 0
16 46.40175 -72.36958 0
17 46.40204 -72.36619 0
18 46.40145 -72.36223 0
19 46.39958 -72.36314 0
20 46.39693 -72.35704 0
21 46.40132 -72.34981 0
The results obtained from the samples taken in
August 2010, although preliminary, revealed that
density increased from 2009 to 2010. The
average density in 2010 was 3380 ± 1315, with
samples originating from about the same area
sampled in 2009, although extending further
downstream and using a 0.5 mm sieve. The
average density for 8 stations situated within
0.5 km of the power station was 5,339 ± 2,500,
while that of sites located from 0.5 to 3 km in the
thermal plume was 1421 ± 273 (0.5 mm sieve).
The range limit of the population in 2010 was
about 4 km downstream the central, and density
in this area was 78 ± 43 (1 mm sieve). Five
thermographs placed at 1.7, 2.4, 3.0, 3.5 and
4.0 km downstream the power station registered
daily average temperatures that were bellow 2°C
during respectively 40 %, 28 %, 91 %, 60 % and
90 % of recording winter days (December 15 to
March 31). One thermograph outside the thermal
plume temperature was bellow 2°C for 95 % of
winter days.
Discussion
The population of Asian clams observed in the
freshwater tidal portion of the St. Lawrence
River is the northernmost documented
occurrence of the species in Eastern North
America. This population benefits from thermal
influence of the nuclear power station.
Nevertheless, the species was still present at 4
km downstream the power station in 2010, where
the influence of the thermal plume was found to
be relatively limited in winter. Results from
thermographs deposited in the bottom of the St.
Lawrence during winter 2010, suggest that water
temperature dropped bellow 2°C for 40 % of
winter days at 1.5 km from the power station and
for 90 % of winter days at 4 km from the power
station. Results from 2011 should allow us to
determine whether or not the population remains
restricted to warmer area of the St. Lawrence, in
the immediate vicinity of Gentilly, or, by
contrast, is expanding significantly further
downstream, outside the warm water plume.
Others populations of Corbicula fluminea
have been discovered at higher latitudes, but in
regions where climate is milder, such as in
England in 1998 (Norfolk; Aldridge and Müller
2001), in Ireland in 2010 (River Barrow, St.
Mullin; Caffrey et al. 2011), and in western
Canada in British Columbia in 2008 (lacustrian
system near Victoria, Vancouver Island;
Kirkendale and Clare 2008). In colder regions of
northern Europe and North America, where
water temperatures drop below 2°C in winter for
extended period of time, experimental work of
Mattice and Dye (1976) predicted a limited
invasion of Asian Clam or a confinement to sites
under thermal influence of power stations
(Schöll 2000). Accordingly, in North Eastern
North America, the Asian clam had most
commonly been found either in warmer areas or
areas influenced by thermal pollution in Lake
Erie (Clarke 1981), Lake Sainte-Claire (French
and Schloesser 1991), Connecticut River
(Morgan et al. 2003) and, more recently, in the
Champlain Canal of Lake Champlain in 2008
(Marsden and Hauser 2009). Nevertheless,
populations of C. fluminea have now also been
discovered in cooler regions, away from power
stations, e.g., in northwestern Poland, in the
Czech Republic and in Germany (Domagała et
al. 2004; Schmildlin and Baur 2007;
Stańczykowska and Kołodziejczyk 2009).
Moreover, a recent occurrence of an Asian clam
population was also found in Lake George (New
M.A. Simard et al.
86
York), where temperature drops below 2°C
during several weeks and which is located at
higher latitude than most documented population
of C. fluminea in Eastern North America (M.
Modley and Darrin Freshwater Institute, personal
communication). This population has likely been
established for at least three years (M. Modley
and Darrin Freshwater Institute, personal
communication). Müller and Baur (2011) and
MacMahon and Bogan (2001) underlined that the
latest northern discoveries and recent
experiments on Asian clam populations raise
questions about the ability of this species to
tolerate colder conditions than initially
established, or for longer period.
Previous researches suggested that although
C. fluminea can live outside zones of thermal
influence during summer and fall, most
individuals die when water temperatures drop
below 2°C for extended periods of time in
northern regions (Graney et al. 1980; French and
Schloesser 1991; Mattice and Dye 1976). In
Lake Constance, in Germany, only 0.1 % of a
C. fluminea population established in 2003
survived when the water temperature dropped
below 2°C for a two-month period (Werner and
Rothhaupt 2008). Similarly, in 2000, some
specimens of C. fluminea were found in shallow
water in the Sainte-Claire Lake delta in Ontario,
but none survived into 2001 (Dave Zanatta,
personal communication). Based on those results
we should suspect C. fluminea population to
remain only under the thermal influence of the
power station and not to invade other areas of the
St. Lawrence. Nevertheless, in the Clinton River
in Michigan (Janech and Hunter 1995), in Lake
George (M. Modley and Darrin Freshwater
Institute, personal communication) and in the
Czech Republic (Stańczykowska and
Kołodziejczyk 2009) a significant proportion of
C. fluminea individuals seemed to tolerate low
winter water temperatures. Those studies
suggested that even if Asian clam populations
suffer extensive winter mortality, the small
number of survivors could possibly produce
offsping that would be better tolerant to rigorous
climates (Janech and Hunter 1995;
Stańczykowska and Kołodziejczyk 2009).
Challenged by the northern distribution of
C. fluminea in Europe, Müller and Baur (2011)
experimentally tested the lower temperature
tolerance of Asian clam by using specimens
collected in March from a remnant of the Rhine
River. After 9 weeks of exposure to temperature
of 2C and 0C, survival rates of clam were
respectively 47.5 % and 17.5 %, with larger size
clams having a higher probability to survive.
Müller and Baur (2011) suggested that
C. fluminea is more tolerant to cold waters than
previously assumed, but still suggested that
exposition to water bellow 2C for more than
two months should lead to high level of
mortality, as observed in Lake Constance
(Werner and Rothhaupt 2008). Considering the
low genetic diversity of C. fluminea, and low
mutation rates, tolerance to cold water would
likely results from high phenotypic plasticity of
the species (McLeod 1986). Because water
temperatures in the St. Lawrence River fall
below 2°C in winter for several months, a further
extension of Asian clam outside the Gentilly-2
thermal influence zone would bring more
questions about the possible tolerance of this
species to cold environment.
Although C. fluminea appears to be
establishing itself in northern regions, episodes
of high mortality caused by cold temperatures
should nevertheless limit population densities,
reducing their ecological impacts (Werner and
Rothhaupt 2008). The average density recorded
for the Gentilly-2 population in 2009 was fairly
low (368 ± 176 individuals/m2), but comparable
to that recorded in the Czech Republic (100
individuals/m2; Beran 2006). Results from 2010,
however, with average density at 3,380 ± 1,315
individuals/m2, suggest that population size
could still increase and that 2009 was possibly
an early stage of invasion. For comparison
purposes, population density of C. fluminea
population reached 2,500 individuals/m2 in
England, while the highest density recorded was
131,000 individuals/m2 in California (Aldridge
and Müller 2001; Beran 2006). In colder regions,
significant variations in density have been
observed according to months, years or sites of
sampling, e.g. between 4 and 1,454
individuals/m2 in Sainte-Claire Lake (French and
Schloesser 1991), between 45 and 11,610
individuals/m2 in the Connecticut River (Morgan
et al. 2003, 2004) and between 32 and 21,496
individuals/m2 in this study. In Lake George,
despite water temperatures between -1°C and
2°C in winter, the preliminary data suggests an
average density of 3,069 individuals/m2 with a
maximum of 6,359 individuals/m2 (M. Modley
and Darrin Freshwater Institute, personal
communication). For a better understanding of
the population dynamic of Asian Clam in the St.
Range extension of the invasive Asian clam
87
Lawrence, as well as the density we should
expect in this region on the long term, detailed
data should be collected to estimate growth and
reproduction. Although most specimens found
measured less than 5 mm (Figure 3), the largest
specimen in 2009 measured 24 mm, suggesting
that the population has been established for
approximately three years (see Sinclair and Isom
1961).
The discovery of the Asian clam in the St.
Lawrence River raises many questions. First,
what is the source population of the individuals
that colonized that region? Several hypotheses
exist. The species may have been introduced by
ballast or waste water discharged by ships from
the United States, South America, Europe or
Asia (Sousa et al. 2008). It may have been
imported for aquariums, as fishing bait, for
consumption, or with other species intended for
aquaculture (Elliott and zu Ermgassen 2008;
Kirkendale and Clare 2008; Sousa et al. 2008).
We also have to determine whether the
Bécancour population of Asian clam is the only
one currently living in the St. Lawrence River, or
whether other populations are settled further
upstream, responsible for releasing larvae that
establish themselves in the power station. Other
sites of the St. Lawrence River affected by
industrial warm water were sampled in
November 2010, but based on preliminary data,
C. fluminea does not appear to be present
(Simard et al. unpublished data). Assuming that
the population of Asian clams in the Gentilly-2
thermal plume is the only one in the province, it
is questionable whether its eradication should be
considered, keeping in mind the extreme
resilience of the species. The most realistic
solution lies in the possible closure of the power
plant, which will undergo repairs from 2012
onwards, limiting warm water into the discharge
canal. Mats laid over the lake bottom have
recently been used in Lake Tahoe and Lake
George in an attempt to suffocate and eradicate
the clam under a benthic barrier (Wittmann et al.
2008; M. Modley, personal communication), but
given the size of the St. Lawrence River and
considering water current, such a solution would
be extremely complex logistically. C. fluminea
appears very tolerant to chlorination and
molluscicide agents, while these products would
harm other species in the ecosystem (Bidwell et
al. 1995).
Conclusion
The Corbicula fluminea population discovered in
the St. Lawrence River needs to be studied in
more detail in order to better understand its
population dynamics and its impact on the
aquatic ecosystems of the St. Lawrence River.
Based on previous works of Mattice and Dye
(1976), the species should not be able to survive
Québec's cold winters outside the hot water
discharges from the nuclear power plant or other
factories. A recent publication nevertheless
suggested that a certain percentage of individuals
would be tolerant to water temperature of 0°C,
and therefore a population could eventually
establish in this cold region (Müller and Baur
2011). Climate change is likely to favor the
success of the Asian clam in northern regions. In
the eventuality that the Asian clam population
becomes established outside the thermal plume
of the Gentilly-2 power station, potential risks
are that C. fluminea threatens the heat exchange,
drainage and channel systems of riverside
industries or could compete with vulnerable
indigenous mollusk populations. Monitoring of
this highly invasive mollusk in Québec’s
waterways is important.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Rémi Bacon, Yves Mailhot and Bruno
Rochette (MRNF) for their assistance with sampling and
planning, Sophie Plante (MRNF) for sorting samples in the
laboratory and Benoît Landry for mapping assistance (MRNF).
We also thank Francis Bouchard (MRNF) for his comments on
the manuscript and to Dr. David Zanatta (Central Michigan
University), Meg Modley (Lake Champlain Basin Program), the
Darrin Freshwater Institute and Dr Joe Caffrey (Inland Fisheries
Ireland) for sharing information about other Asian clam
populations. Thanks to Hydro-Québec for data sharing and for the
support shown throughout the project, and thanks to Genivar and
Laboratoire SAB inc. for the assistance provided through the data
sharing process.
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